Big Time Confession
by RomioneAlways51
Summary: When James begins to fall behind in his school work again, he brushes it off as sickness, but the guys, especially Logan, know it's something bigger. Can James trust his best friends enough to tell them the truth? Can they help him with his problem? Another favourite-character-torture-fic, because I love it! :D read and review? Rated K because I don't know where it's gonna go
1. Chapter 1: Running

**A/N: Hey, guys, new story up tonight! So the idea for this one came when I was in maths the other day and I had absolutely no clue what my teacher was on about! It's a James fic, because I love him! Here we go!**

**Chapter 1: Running**

James bent double from his position seated at his desk as another coughing fit took over him. He spat into a tissue, throwing it out and drinking from the glass of water on his desk, and turned back to his homework. James' eyes blurred as he tried to read the maths problem he was working on, and the words jumbled around as the numbers jumped out at him; 15, 42, 7. He shook his head, trying to clear it, but the letters continued to swim on the page, rearranging themselves as James sighed; he thought he'd have grown out of it by now.

"It's just cause I'm sick," he muttered, "I'll try again tomorrow," he shut the book and flipped his barely started work sheet over, just as he heard the bedroom door open behind him, and turned to see his friends, led by Logan, coming into the room, chattering excitedly. Logan, however, strode right up to James, seated at his desk, and opened the taller boy's book.

"James," he said quietly as Kendall and Carlos chatted noisily, heading into the living room. Logan got up and shut the door before coming back to stand over James "how much did you get done today?" he flipped over James' worksheet and sighed. "Come on, man, I get that you're sick, but you can't afford to fall behind anymore!"

"I'm trying-" James protested.

"No you're not," Logan interrupted "you didn't even get one question done today!"

"Get off by back, OK? I'll get it done, just leave me alone!" James thrust his wheeled desk chair back, got up and stormed out of the room, straight past Carlos and Kendall, grabbing a jacket on the way, and out of the apartment. He jabbed the ground floor button and tried to put his jacket on, getting his arm caught in the sleeve in the process. "Can't I do anything right?!" James yelled into the empty elevator, and stormed out as the doors opened. As soon as he was in Palm Woods park, James ran; he ran all the way down the Main Street, passing many joggers who gave him odd looks; he must have looked very strange to them, running at full pelt down the road, in jeans and sneakers, but he didn't care; running was James' favourite thing to do, besides singing and hockey. Running was easy. Running didn't involve reading.

**A/N: Not so long, but its only the first chapter :) I really like it as a starter though, so I hope you guys feel the same! What's wrong with James? Any guesses, I think I made it kinda obvious, which was dumb of me :/ sorry if I spoiled it guys! Reviews rock, and keep an ****_eye_**** out for more word on a Kendall story similar to** **this! (Oh, I crack myself up!)**


	2. Chapter 2: Problems

**A/N: Hey, loves, I'm on the bus right now, and I just had to update again, so here we go! This is a flashback, so that's why it's in italics. Oh, I also stayed up till 1am writing the first chapter and researching the second chapter of my Kendall story! I'm so pumped for it! So maybe my older BTR stories and those Victorious and Glee ones might have to wait :)**

Chapter 2: Problems

_"Hello?" a brunette haired woman answered her phone, sitting it in between her head and shoulder as she typed on a computer. Her hazel eyes darkened as she heard the voice on the other end of the phone. _

_"Hello, Mrs Diamond? It's Clare Thompson calling, it's about James," she said, and Brooke Diamond sighed, her long nails stopped clacking on the computer keys as she held the phone properly in her hand. _

_"What's happened?" she asked, trying not to sound uninterested; the truth was, she had received numerous calls from James' teachers each year, telling her the exact same thing; 'James hasn't been concentrating in class' 'he's unfocused, and it's starting to effect his tests', Brooke was used to hearing this about her son, and even from an early age, she could tell something was not right. "He's not done well on any of the spelling tests we've had this week, and when I asked him to read aloud, he couldn't do it, he stuttered and stumbled, and he mispronounced even the simplest of words, that I know he already learned. I'm certain it's not a confidence issue, Mrs. Diamond, as I'm sure you're aware, your son is very outgoing," Brooke nodded on the other end of the phone as Mrs. Thompson continued to speak. "At first, I thought it might have been a distraction from his friends, perhaps some issues between them, but Kendall, Carlos and Logan are all doing fine, and there seems to be no problems between the four of them," Brooke shook her head; James and his friends were as close as could be, and she knew each of their parents well enough to know that none of them would let their son slip in school, or be a bad influence on the others. "We're thinking it could be a developmental issue," Mrs. Thompson continued, "and we've booked James in for an appointment with the school councellor after school tomorrow, just to ascertain where he's at, whether it's worth holding him back a grade," _

_"Thank you," Brooke sighed "I'll be there tomorrow,"_

_"Thank you, Mrs Diamond," Mrs Thompson said, before hanging up the phone. Brooke put her phone down and ran her hands through her cropped hair, sighing again. _

_"Jamie?" she called._

_"Yeah, mommy?" a seven year old James asked, bounding down the stairs excitedly. _

_"How was school, today, honey?" she asked; Brooke had to tread carefully here, because she knew James was sensitive about this, and she knew he would never admit to having trouble in school, not even to her. James' little face fell slightly, and he looked down at his feet,_

_"It was OK," he mumbled, and Brooke gave the slightest of sighs; she was hoping she wouldn't have to ask him,_

_"James, honey," she could see her son begin to look out the window, at her computer, at his fingers; anywhere else but at her "Mrs Thompson called me today, babe, she said you haven't been doing well with your tests, and we're gonna have a meeting with your councellor tomorrow, OK?" _

_"Why?" Little James asked, his lip wobbling as he stared up at his mother "I'm trying, mommy, I am!" his voice began to shake, and she could tell it was hurting him, too._

_"I know, sweety," she said gently, hushing him as he crawled onto her lap and cried "we've just gotta find out if we can make it any easier for you, OK?" James sniffled, climbing off his mother's lap, _

_"OK," _

_"That's my boy, now go have a play with upstairs while I make dinner," Brooke told him, standing up. _

_"OK, mommy," James said cheerfully "I love you!"_

_"I love you, too, honey," Brooke replied, tears in her eyes._

* * *

Seventeen year old James remembered that day like it was yesterday, he had been struggling in school ever since he learned to read and write, but even then, they were hard. He remembered crying himself to sleep at night, because nothing made sense, whenever he saw something written down, he couldn't understand it, and it scared him when he was younger; what was the matter with him? Was he some sort of abnormal human? At seven, of course, James didn't know the word, 'abnormal', so he started worrying that he might be an alien, and he thought that might have been kind of cool, until he visited the councellor.

* * *

_"Good afternoon, Mrs Diamond, James," the councellor, Ms. Hanson said, shaking each James' hand harshly, and the young boy flinched. "There's no need to be scared, son," she said, giving a gentle smile "I'm here to see what I can do to help you with your little, er, problem," she was careful with her choice of words, and that made James scared, like she knew something he didn't, and she wouldn't tell him. _

_"He's been having trouble in spelling, and in reading, he really struggled to learn to read." James' mother said, and James flushed red; why was his mom telling this stranger all this? This lady was meant to know what was wrong with him, did his mom really have to embarrass him? _

_"OK," Ms. Hanson muttered, rummaging through her desk and retrieving a set of flash cards, And holding the first one, 'green' out to James. "What does this say?" she asked, and she furrowed her brow as James stared at _

_confused. The letters swum in front of him, and he opened and closed his eyes in an effort to try and understand the word that was written in front of him,_

_"Um," James stuttered, shaking his head to try and clear it. _

_"Try sounding it out," Ms. Hanson said gently, and James stared at the card again, unsure._

_"Eight?" he asked, and his mother wrung her hands in her lap, worried._

_"No, honey, that's a g, and what sound does it make?" Ms. Hanson asked. And so it went on, just as slowly, as James tried to read to words the councellor was showing him, and failing, and his mother became increasingly more worried._

_"Well, Mrs. Diamond," Ms. Hanson said, collecting the last card off James "there's no use in us holding James back a grade, it won't do him any good," _

_"What?" Brooke asked, tensing. "What's wrong with him?"_

_"I'm afraid your son has a difficulty with recognizing words and letters, and he has a problem when it comes to reading." Ms. Hanson explained calmly._

_"What?" Brooke was still confused._

_"Mrs. Diamond," Ms. Hanson told Brooke "James has Dyslexia."_

**A/N: Whoa, big chapter! :D Aw Jamie has Dyslexia! Did you guys guess it? I feel like I made it kinda obvious, which was bad writing on my part, but any who, it was so fun to write little James so I hope you guys liked it :) Review? Xx**


	3. Chapter 3: Logan

**A/N: Hey, guys, I'm gonna start by apologizing profusely for my lack of updates, and it's only because I've discovered that year 11 is so busy! been life has seems to go by in fast forward, while I'm still focusing on getting another pencil because someone stole mine! Anyway, here's an update, finally. I'm not sure when the next one will be, but know that I'd never forget about you guys! Ever! xx**

**Chapter 3: Logan**

James sighed, leaning against a strong tree in the park he had somehow found himself in; he knew it was stupid to assume it was something else - he had Dyslexia, he'd always had Dyslexia, and there was nothing he could do about it. He also knew it was selfish of him to keep it from the boys and Mrs. Knight - they were his family in LA, and they deserved to know, no matter how embarrassing it was, and how hard it was for James to keep going; he was seventeen, seventeen, and he still couldn't read! OK, maybe he was overreacting, he could read, kinda, it just took so much longer than anyone else. James had no clue how he had managed to stay in his job for so long; he couldn't even read the lyrics to the songs, he learned the lyrics by ear, or by listening to the demo that Gustavo had recorded for them. Reading notes was even harder, he couldn't pick out the pattern of a melody at all, and his head throbbed when he tried to decipher the notes on the stave. He didn't dare tell Gustavo or Kelly, he couldn't risk being kicked out of the band, so he just learned by ear; surprisingly, James could hear harmonies and melodies perfectly, and was able to sing them exactly right. James sighed, pulling out his iPod and heading into his only playlist, one full of the demo tracks Gustavo had recorded for the boys to learn, and scrolled down to the bottom, and most recent, song; Invisible, and scoffed; he was pretty invisible right now, school was so difficult for him, since he was in year 11 now, so he just sat up the back of the room, listening to his iPod or drawing doodles in his notebook. No one noticed him, he was just a wallflower, as he answered when his name was called, and continued to silently fail all his assignments. He didn't want it to be this way, James was a good guy, and he wanted to get a proper education, and be smart, and graduate like everybody else, but it was just hard. He had tried, like he promised his mum, he had worked his very hardest to barely even get adequate grades, and by the time James was in year 9, he realized that it was useless; he was failing, and there was nothing he could do to make it any better, so he just gave up; he started focusing more on his looks than his grades, he discovered hockey, and met the guys who, all but Logan, were all getting just under average grades, and who thought being top of the class was not as important as having fun, and it had been love, or friendship, at first sight.

James leaned back against the tree, hearing Gustavo's surprisingly good voice slide over the melody for the bridge of Invisible, and he tried to mouth the lyrics,

"I wanna look far, to be where you are, I wish you could see what I see-"

"James?" a voice asked, and James have a start, turning around to see Logan standing above him, concern lining his features.

"What, Logan?" James said moodily, taking out his earphones as Logan sat down beside him on the grass.

"Are you OK, James?" Logan asked "I didn't mean to be in your face before, I-"

"Look, it's fine, OK?" James snapped "Just, can I be alone?"

"James," Logan said, hurt "come on, I brought your math homework, there's no problem with asking for help, here-"

"Logan?" James asked, frustrated "I don't need help, OK? Just go away!"

"James-" Logan looked down at his brother's maths notes; this was simple year eleven arithmetic, Logan could easily help James.

"It's not just math, OK?" James exploded, turning to glare at the genius "Its everything! I can't do anything!"

"James-" Logan began.

"I'm too stupid!" James cried "I can't do it!"

"James," Logan asked hesitantly "what are you-"

"I can't read past a second grade level, I can't read sheet music, and I definitely can't do math!"

"Why-"

"I'm-" James sighed, Logan obviously wasn't going to stop until he got the whole truth, and James had to admit, if he told anyone, his best bet was probably Logan, maybe Logan could help him? "I have Dyslexia, Logan, OK? I can't do anything," he buried his head in his knees, blinking

"James," Logan said gently rubbing the taller boy's back "it's nothing to be ashamed of-"

"Yes it is!" James looked up, frustrated tears stinging his eyes "I can't read any better than an eight year old, all I do it sit up the back of class and draw in my notebook, and Miss Collins doesn't even notice because-" James stopped, not wanting to have to say it.

"Because I always help you with your assignments," Logan mused. "Oh, James, why didn't you tell us? Does Mama Knight know?" James shook his head and Logan gave a sigh.

"I didn't tell you guys because, I was so embarrassed when I found out, and then I thought it was gone, but it wasn't, and-"

"Wait, hold up," Logan said, "when did you find out?"

"When I was 7," James mumbled "I thought I'd grow out of it, but-"

"Wait, you've kept this from us, from Mama Knight, from _everyone_, for ten years?" Logan asked, trying to hide his astonishment as James nodded.

"It's just gotten harder as I've gotten older, it was OK when I was in elementary school, everyone just kinda thought I was a slow learner, now I'm just the dumb kid who doesn't even care,"

"James, you're not dumb because you've got Dyslexia, you're dumb because you haven't asked for help, plenty of people are living with Dyslexia, it's not that big of a deal, you just have to find a different way of learning that works better for you."

"Really?" James asked, perking up slightly.

"Really," Logan nodded, opening out James' maths books "but I really think we should tell the others,"

"I will," James said, his eyes focused on the book in front of him "soon, just promise me you won't tell?"

"Promise," Logan said solemnly, and James nodded, smiling.

**A/N: please excuse that huge chunk of description up the top, my words kind of ran away from me ;) anyway, I hope you guys liked that, and be sure to review, because that makes me happy, and maybe check out my new story 'Big Time Help?' that'd make me even more happy! **

**Well, guys, I have a cramp in my foot, it's 11.30pm, and I'm super tired, so good night! **

**Laura xoxox**


End file.
